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Marcus was leaving a diner the very first time he saw Esca move. The man was flying over rails and lunging across rooftops, and Marcus thought, just for a second, that maybe the man was running from the cops. Or a serial killer, who was hot on his tail. Or maybe even an angry and very determined dog. In retrospect, he blames those thoughts on watching too many late night thriller movies, but at the time he was absolutely sure that something horrible was going to happen to the guy.
Marcus's heart had sped up as he'd watched him move, fluidly bouncing around, but each move striking with it's flexibility, the sun glinting off of his blond hair like lighting. Marcus was seconds away from calling out, seeing if the man needed help, when he saw the guy do a backflip and bend over for a few minutes, glancing behind him.
Tilting his head to check in that direction, Marcus saw a few others following him, a redhead and a guy with a mohawk doing the most stunts as they moved. The blond was grinning when they caught up to him, a smile that seemed to shine all the way down to where Marcus stood. They laughed and congratulated each other, high fives, and playful attempts to throw one another off the building, before taking off again with fierce and almost competitive leaps.
Everything was fine. Apparently they did this for fun, some sort of daredevil thing.
Still, as Marcus watched them run out of sight, his heart wouldn't stop thundering wildly.
***
Unable to get the vision of the blond guy out of his head, Marcus had spent several lunch periods just standing there, near the buildings, hoping to see him leaping and lunging like it was as easy as walking used to be for Marcus before the accident that had given him his damned damaged leg.
It had taken almost an entire week of looking for him, and Marcus had been about to give up, when he saw them running again. This time they were taking a different route, and they ended up not far from Marcus, talking and ribbing and mentioning grabbing a burger together later on. Marcus's eyes were on the blond the whole time, seeing how he was gossiping, and held himself straight and even on the ground than he did when he was maneuvering around the city.
It was a change, a large one, since the blond but had seemed almost feral, as though the world was his playground, like he was free and wild and swinging through trees when he'd been leaping over guard rails and climbing up the outside of parking garages in three steps. Still, standing straight and tall suited him just as much, Marcus decided, after a few more seconds of observation.
He wanted to go over, speak to them, but his leg was aching that day, and he couldn't handle limping towards them when they were as athletic as Marcus used to pride himself on being. He wasn't there yet, even though his physical therapist insisted that he just had to keep working at it.
Despite his pounding heart, Marcus turned away, barely noticing the blond guy looking back at him as he walked away.
***
After that, Marcus told himself he was only hurting himself by comparing himself to those others. He tried to tell himself not to spend his lunches looking for them, and he was mostly successful (okay, the one time he'd looked and spotted the blond was just because he was craving a fucking burger, and if he happened to see him, solo this time, well, that was just a lucky coincidence).
Of course, all the positive self-talk and decisions not to pursue the athletic group didn't change the fact that images of the blond slipped into his head at completely inappropriate times, or that he found himself glancing about for him wherever he went. It also didn't stop Marcus from masturbating regularly to the thought of flying free across buildings with the blond, nothing but air under them to keep them moving.
***
He'd spent so long looking for the blond while still trying to convince himself that he wasn't looking, that when he accidentally ran into him on his way through the park, he was so startled he ended up just stopping dead and staring. It was a cloudy day, and thunder had been rumbling his whole walk, so the last thing he expected was to see his runner standing around the park in exercise clothes.
Hell, Marcus himself wouldn't have gone out if his uncle hadn't asked him to run a quick package to the post office for him. And since it was only a short ways away, Marcus had decided to try walking it. A mistake, since now his leg ached, but a mistake well worth making it meant that he could see the blond for ever a few minutes.
So, clouds or no, here they both were. But instead of climbing buildings, the blond was crouched in the grass with a bunch of kids—the oldest couldn't be more than eight—stretching and instructing them on proper form for their flexing. Still as a statue, Marcus watched the group get up, and the blond step to the front.
After ensuring that all the kids were focused, their teacher demonstrated leaping over a small wall, explaining things the entire way. His voice drew Marcus in—it was more serious than he'd imagined, and it had a wonderful accent that made Marcus want to lean in and listen to him talk for hours. Instead, he found a bench and sat, watching as the guy helped the kids with each step of the process.
When it was over, and the kids had been picked up by parents or headed off on their own, his blond stayed behind, and nearly made Marcus's heart stop when he titled his head towards him. “I've seen you around, watching.” It was a statement, but it sounded incriminating. “Who are you?”
“I'm Marcus.” He walked over and held his hand out. “And I guess I'm just curious.” To be fair, Marcus probably would've thought he was a creeper, too. “What are you all doing?”
“I'm Esca, and I work with the American Parkour Association.” His expression was all business. “Which is what we're doing. It's called Parkour. We're freerunners.” Esca tilted his head as he looked at Marcus now, giving him a once over. “You interested?”
“It's amazing, but not for me.” Marcus hesitated, and then gestured to his bad leg. His face was on fire; this was not how he'd imagined their first meeting going. “Car accident, nerve damage.”
It had been threatening to rain all day, and the clouds let loose just as Marcus finished speaking. Esca tilted his head up to the sky, letting the rain wash away the sweat from teaching the kids on such a muggy day. When he looked back down, he had a wide but sharp smile on his face, and Marcus's heart kicked back into over-drive, remembering that first time he'd seen him. “Okay.” Esca paused. “But are you interested in grabbing a pint anyway? You know, with me?”
Marcus inhaled so sharp he nearly choked. “Is that normal business practice?”
“Maybe not for the APA, but it's usually how I work things,” Esca replied. Marcus couldn't help himself; he gave Esca a wide smile of his own, even as his eyes looked dead serious and his heart was trying to run it's own damn obstacle course. “Dinner or a pint, maybe some tea at my flat afterward, if everything goes well.” Again, his eyes raked over Marcus, and how his clothes clung to him in the rain.
While Marcus figured he looked a mess, one look at Esca was all he needed to make his own decision. “Count me in.” Marcus nodded, wiping his hair out of his face. Esca didn't bother, and looked as comfortable in the pouring rain as he did everywhere else. In which case, he could take charge. Marcus mock bowed his head and held his hand out before him. “As long as we stay on the ground, you're welcome to lead the way.”
Esca laughed and Marcus had a feeling that his leg would be impossibly sore in the morning, but also that it would be incredibly, unbelievably worth it.